A "sophisticated cybercriminal" who organised an attempted £2 million cryptocurrency theft from his prison cell has been sentenced to eight years in jail. According to BBC News, Robert Barr, 29, directed Sean Favier, 26, and Iain Doyle, 37, to steal digital assets from two homes in Midlothian while serving time at HMP Edinburgh. The scheme unravelled during the second attempted burglary when the perpetrators spotted a doorbell camera and abandoned the operation.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Cubie handed Favier a four-year sentence and Doyle five years after all three men entered guilty pleas to involvement in serious organised crime. The judge characterised the crime as one that "married computer sophistication with old fashioned housebreaking". Prosecutors portrayed Barr as possessing an "ability to orchestrate a level of criminality rarely seen within mainstream investigations".
Barr was already serving a 21-month sentence for fraud and possessing illicit mobile phones in prison when he orchestrated the cryptocurrency thefts. According to the court's sentencing statement, his eight-year sentence runs from 25 August 2025, when his previous sentence expired, while Doyle's five-year term commenced from his remand on 28 September 2026. The judge reduced Barr's notional sentence from eight years and ten months to eight years following his early guilty plea, and similarly reduced Doyle's from five years and eight months to five years.
How the first theft unfolded
The initial raid occurred in January 2024 and targeted a man who was a co-founder of a cryptocurrency start-up. The victim had not publicly disclosed his cryptocurrency holdings, though he maintained a social media account focused heavily on digital assets. During this first burglary, the raiders obtained a cryptocurrency wallet but lacked the personal identification number required to access the funds within it.
Barr subsequently sent a message to an associate boasting about his involvement, stating:
I had his house robbed a few months ago by boys in here.He later indicated to another person that the cryptocurrency owned by the victim could be worth in excess of £2 million. Prosecutor David Dickson KC told the court that Barr demonstrated detailed knowledge, noting that he
knew the man had been involved with cryptocurrency since it first emerged and that the [man's] 'own coin' was worth £1m.
Planning the second robbery
Before the second attempted theft, Barr maintained contact with an associate and sent detailed instructions via text message:
I'm going to send u a website for the boys to make him go on. If they need phone me on Telegram. I can speak to them in house keep them right. When they're in his house gonna need get him on his PC fast.He also specified that a programme to access the computer remotely would need to be installed
rapidto facilitate the theft of cryptocurrency.
On 17 April 2024, the victim and his wife were at home when she noticed someone knocking at the front door. The man looked out and observed two figures dressed in dark clothing with hoods covering their faces. He instructed his wife not to open the door, as he did not recognise the pair and was not expecting visitors. One of the men peered directly into what appeared to be a camera lens and asked:
Is that a camera right in front of me?The two then departed, attempting to conceal their identities.
How the plot was discovered
Barr's mobile phone was seized on 25 June 2024. Examination of the device revealed extensive evidence of his involvement in organising and providing specialist support to criminal associates for conducting cryptocurrency thefts. Prosecutor Dickson explained to the court that the phone contained detailed records of Barr's coordination of the criminal enterprise.
The court heard that Favier had not known his accomplice Doyle prior to the night of the attempted robbery. Doyle was said to have become involved without fully understanding the nature of the crime he was participating in. Barr's lawyer, Michael Anderson KC, remarked:
It might be a source of frustration to a number of people that someone who has skills that are pretty unusual could not put them to better use and legally.
The judge's assessment
Lord Cubie told the three men:
This was an attempted crime that married 21st Century computer sophistication with old fashioned housebreaking in an audacious attempt to steal cryptocurrency of up to £2m. It was apparently devised and directed from a prison cell, only frustrated when the victims had sense not to open the front door at 11:30pm to unknown men dressed in dark clothing with their faces obscured.
Related criminal investigations
Barr faces additional legal jeopardy in a separate matter. According to the Glasgow Times, he was accused in a separate alleged conspiracy with Barry Letham to steal cryptocurrency valued at more than £17 million, with that case scheduled for trial in Edinburgh in September 2026.
What happens next
The High Court will continue considering a serious crime prevention order against Barr. The court scheduled further consideration of this order for 17 November 2026 at 9:30am at the High Court of Justiciary in Glasgow.
